PCUSA defers decision on gay clergy - Presbyterian Church U.S.A - News

Christian Century, June 16, 1993

One of the first actions taken by delegates at the 1993 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Orlando, Florida, was to elect one of the denomination's youngest moderators ever--one who has spent his entire ministry in Alaska. David Lee Dobler, 43, has been an advocate for mission work in the church's Yukon Presbytery and the Synod of Alaska-Northwest. The new moderator presided over the June 2-9 General Assembly and will act as chief spokesman for the church until next year's assembly. In subsequent decisions the denomination moved rather quickly to reduce the size of its staff, but its stand on homosexuality was more fiercely, and lengthily, debated. In the end the gathering chose to decide the issue later--after a three-year study period.

In Dobler the Presbyterians elected a spokesman who supports the denomination's ban on ordaining practicing homosexuals and believes that the Bible is "clear and consistent" in condemning homosexual behavior. But although Dobler sided with those who oppose ordination of practicing homosexuals, he quickly called on assembly delegates to remember the gospel call to love one another: "We must carry the Bible with one arm and wrap the other around our brothers and sisters." The issue, he said, "is how we are going to be with each other in times of disagreement and confrontation. We have to learn and relearn how to disagree and hang on to each other." Dobler, pastor of Jewel Lake Parish Presbyterian Church in Anchorage, won by a narrow margin (293-283) over Margaret Wentz, an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Newton, Kansas. Wilton Vincenty-Escalona, an elder from Valle Hermoso Presbyterian Church in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, also appeared on the slate.

With little debate the delegates voted to pass a restructuring plan that is expected to reduce the size of the church's national staff by about 25 percent. Under the plan the denomination's nine ministry units will be replaced with three divisions. The downsizing, expected to be accomplished largely by offering financial incentives for voluntary resignations, was prompted by a projected $7 million 1994 budget deficit, which followed budget cuts of $5 million in 1993.

Church spokeswoman Marj Carpenter said on the day of the vote that 73 staffers have opted to accept financial incentives under the denomination's voluntary separation program and another 11 are taking voluntary early retirement. If another 20 to 25 staff members opt for the voluntary programs by June 15, the deadline for participation, the total number of forced layoffs could be as few as 15 to 30, church officials estimate.

Regarding homosexuality and the church, delegates avoided taking a final stand in the rancorous debate by voting for a three-year study--a decision that drew immediate fire from activists anxious for the church to adopt a more accepting attitude toward gays and lesbians. Delegates approved the three-year study after more than four hours of intense parliamentary jockeying over a variety of proposals focusing on the church's ban on ordination of practicing homosexuals.

In the end, proponents of the three-year study prevailed in a late night session when delegates decided to follow the recommendation of the General Assembly's Committee on Human Sexuality. During the study period the church will maintain its ban against putting practicing homosexuals in the pulpit, though homosexuals who remain celibate will be ordained. The plan calls on Presbyterians at every level of the church to "be engaged in the discipline of open, diligent, prayerful study" of the issue and report the results of their study to the church before the 1996 General Assembly.

After delegates approved the measure in a 396-155 vote with seven abstentions, about 70 gay and lesbian activists came onto the convention floor, carrying a wooden cross and singing "Jesus Loves Me" and "I Shall Not Be Moved." Some chanted, "You want to study us to death." Others shouted, "The church is us; you cannot shut us out," "Stop using the Bible as a weapon," and "It is not gay and lesbian people who will divide the church--it is bigotry." Among the demonstrators were Howard Warren of Presbyterian ACT UP, Lisa Bove of Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns, and Jane Spahr, an openly lesbian minister whose appointment to the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York, became a cause celebre of the homosexual community but was ultimately overturned by the denomination's highest court.

Appealing for a stand emphasizing compassion toward homosexuals but banning openly gay and lesbian people from the clergy, Moderator Dobler said, "I believe that the middle will hold on this. There are voices on the edges that our Lord and we need to hear, but we don't have to be driven by them." Steve Benz, a lay leader from the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, said he opposes the ordination of active homosexuals but added, "I'm deeply conflicted because my feelings are in conflict with my beliefs, and I can't deny my beliefs."